Clara Wieck Schumann in the European scientific discourse

Background. The article is devoted to studying of versatile aspects of life and work of the outstanding German pianist and composer Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann (1819–1896) on little-known in domestic musicology materials of the European scientific literature. The review of scientific sources also includes the rare works given personally to the author by the relative of Clara Schumann, Frau Hannelore Österschritt, which is the great-granddaughter of her step-brother on the mother’s side, W. Bargiel. The above large array of systematized chronological and literary sources gives an idea of the scale and aspects of studying such a scientific problem as the analysis of Clara Schumann’s creative heritage to date. It turns out that her phenomenon as a supernova on the German sky made Europeans see a woman in a different way – as a creator, a bright personality, a public figure, a successful performer. The purpose of the article is the description and systematization of European science sources, covering the figure of Clara Wieck Schumann. Research methodology are based on general scientific approaches necessary for the disclosure of the topic, including logical, historical, chronological, source-study methods needed to synthesize and systematize of scientific sources. Results. The figure of Сlara Wieck Schumann – an outstanding female composer, a successful concert pianist, a teacher, a wife, a mother and a Muse of two brilliant composers of Romanticism – was so bright that she was able to break the all previous ideas of that time about the role of a woman in society. This is evidenced by the impressive scale of the interest of researchers to her personality and creativity, the interest, which has not been extinguished in Europe for almost two centuries. Build on the literature of European scientists from different countries devoted to Clara Wieck Schumann, one can come to the conclusion that during her lifetime the work of this prominent woman was arousing the great interest of musicologists and critics (G. Schilling, F.-J. Fétis, H. Riemann), and her musical works were known and demanded. One of the most important issues that are considered in scholarly works is Clara’s personality as a representative of women who have broken the centuries-old ideas and foundations about the place of latter in society. Some of the authors (La Mara, Eva Weissweiler) tried to prove the secondary character of feminine creativity, based on cliché about that Clara Schumann herself was not always sure of the value of her musical compositions. Other researchers (F. Liszt, E. Wickop, C. Dahlhaus) argued that the work of Clara Schumann occupies a special, leading place among the history of well-known women-composers. After the death of the composer interest to her musical creativity began to fade away. Confirmation of this is almost complete absence of her works in concert programs of pianists, and even not a complete edition of the compositions of the musician. Despite this, during the twentieth century, Clara Schumann’s work continues to be carefully studied by the researchers of Germany (B. Litzmann, W. Kleefeld, K. Höcker, R. Hohenemser, A. Meurer, E. Wickop), France (R. Pitrou), England (P. Susskind, J. Chissell, N. Reich). During the last forty years, interest to Clara Wick Schumann’s creativity has grown substantially, possibly due to activation of the feminist movements in the world. Clara became one of the main objects of research about women who wrote and performed musical compositions. The culmination of this process can be called the emergence of the fundamental monograph by Janina Klassen “Clara Wieck-Schuman. Die Virtuosin als Komponistin” (1990), where the composer’s creative efforts are most fully analyzed, as well as valuable references to rare historical sources are given, including the letters from the Robert Schumann’s house in Zwickau, which have not yet been published. Conclusions. Thus, the presented large array of literary sources, being systematized by chronology and the subjects, gives an idea of the state of the studying and analysis of the cultural heritage of Clara Wieck Schumann today. The author hopes that the information collected will ease orientation in finding answers to questions arising to musicologists who explore her creativity. Summing up, we can present the generalized classification of the literature considered. So, Clara’s diaries including the records making by her father and relating to the early period of her creation, give the understanding of how the pianist’s outlook was formed. Estimative judgments about the value of composition as an important area of Clara’s creation should be sought in her epistolary heritage, in particular, in the correspondence with R. Schumann and J. Brahms. At the same place one should to look for the motives and emotional boundaries of her creativity. Answers the many questions that may arise to a performer who interprets of Clara Schumann’s music can be found in the fundamental biographical study by B. Litzmann and the articles by F. Liszt. A large layer of modern researches, which has been published since the 80s of the twentieth century, cannot be discounted as the authors rely on modern methods of analysis. Therefore, it is as if the resolved problems are being considered on a new level: from the research of forgotten pages of “XIX century women’s music” (J. Klassen), new data about Clara’s life outlook formation, and ending with issues of her music style. All these aspects give the opportunity to “collect” the creative and personal “portrait” of a genius woman of the nineteenth century.